[For 3-year-olds] Perfect January Winter & New Year Crafts! A Collection of Fun, Hands-On Ideas
Do you find yourself wondering every year what to make with the children in January’s childcare activities? It can be surprisingly hard to find crafts that three-year-olds will enjoy while taking in New Year’s motifs and the feeling of winter.
In this guide, we’ll share ideas you can enjoy together with three-year-olds—from New Year-perfect projects like paper plate spinning tops, kagami mochi, and shishimai (lion dance), to wintery crafts like fluffy sheep and snowmen.
Activities that use hands and fingertips, such as finger stamping, finger painting, and origami, will spark children’s curiosity.
Some of the things you make can also be played with afterward, so please use these ideas for inspiration! Because the children’s creations are treated as artworks, we use the term “seisaku” (production/artwork) in the text.
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[For 3-year-olds] Perfect winter and New Year crafts for January! A collection of fun, hands-on ideas (101–110)
Shishimai (lion dance) made with torn-paper collage
This is a lion dance (shishimai) craft made with torn-paper collage, where you can enjoy various activities like tearing paper and drawing illustrations.
After folding the origami, attach the prepared shishimai parts.
Tear rectangular-cut pieces of origami and stick them onto construction paper.
The key here is to place them so they align with the shishimai’s face.
By pasting the origami pieces you tore yourself, you can enjoy the moment when various patterns emerge.
Finally, draw the shishimai’s expression and illustrations such as cherry blossoms with pens or crayons to finish.
Ema made with drawing paper
Ema are votive plaques offered at shrines and temples, either to convey prayers or in thanks when wishes come true.
Here’s an idea to make a perfect New Year’s item in January using construction paper.
Draw the zodiac animal or your favorite character on a sheet of construction paper and cut along the lines with scissors.
After coloring with colored pencils or crayons, paste the drawing onto a piece of construction paper cut into the shape of an ema.
Set out colorful paints and use your fingertips to stamp patterns like plum blossoms or bamboo to finish the illustration.
Finally, thread a string through a hole made with a hole punch, and your ema is complete.
Picture matching cards
A matching card game played with two sheets of paper bearing the same illustration.
Why not create a game you can play with children using your own original drawings? On plain white paper, draw illustrations such as daruma dolls or animals from the zodiac.
Make two copies of each illustration and paste them onto construction paper.
If it’s hard to tell matches by the drawings alone, writing the names like in karuta is also recommended.
Even after you finish making them, they can be enjoyed as a card game.
Fluffy colorful sheep
Warm and cozy for winter! Here’s a fun craft to make a colorful, fluffy-cute sheep.
Prepare cotton, crayons, wood glue, a pen, and colored construction paper with the sheep’s body, face, legs, horns, etc.
drawn in advance.
First, cut out the sheep parts with scissors.
Color the construction paper with crayons, applying the color thickly.
Next, roll five balls of cotton, each about the size of a child’s palm.
Rub the cotton on the crayon-colored areas until the color transfers, and make five balls in different colors.
Glue the cut-out parts together with wood glue.
Finally, attach the cotton to the sheep’s body with wood glue, and you’re done! Use crayons to draw a cute face with eyes and a mouth.
Snowflakes Made with Salt Painting
Do you know salt painting? It’s a method of making art using salt.
You can create three-dimensional pictures, and the texture of the salt makes it a fun and fascinating technique.
This time, we’ll use this method to draw snowflakes.
First, draw the snowflakes with glue, then sprinkle salt over them.
After sprinkling, dab on watercolor paint thinned with plenty of water.
The slightly bleeding effect makes for very cute snowflakes.
Give it a try yourself!
[For 3-year-olds] Perfect winter & New Year crafts for January! A special collection of fun, hands-on ideas (111–120)
Penguin footprint art
Turn your child’s feet into penguins! Here’s a footprint art project perfect for 3-year-olds.
You’ll need construction paper, origami paper, white paint, round stickers, and glue.
First, make footprints using paint.
Use plenty of paint and just a little water—that’s the key.
Stamp both feet firmly so the whole foot shows.
Once dry, cut the footprints into penguin shapes.
On a sheet of construction paper for the background, have the kids tear origami paper and glue it down to look like ice.
Finally, add the penguins’ eyes, flippers, and feet using round stickers or cutouts—and you’re done! Using origami paper for your own original decorations is also recommended.
Handprint gloves
An item where you make colorful handprint mittens using construction paper and tissue paper.
Fold the construction paper in half, open it once, place your hand on it, and cut along the pencil outline.
Cut or tear the tissue paper into any shapes you like and glue them onto the construction paper.
Finally, fold the paper back up and draw the string connecting the mittens to finish.
Kids can enjoy preserving their handprints and the process of tearing and pasting paper.
It’s also fun to decorate around the mittens with snowmen or falling snow.